Thursday, April 21, 2016

Caption Reviews (Part 2)

Business first - the Music Caption Contest is up and running, with the new option to use whatever images you want! The first part of this caption review series can be found here if you want to see more. Finally, if you are mentioned in any of these review posts and would like a shout out to your blog, Tumblr, DeviantArt, or whatever, let me know and I will add a link!

Here comes the second batch of reviews! These go out to people who've stop by more than one during the last ten contests and have produced at least a couple caps apiece. Two things to note about this edition - first, there are some people who wrote long series, so I decided to count those as one "cap" to review because the series itself is what I wanted to analyze. Secondly, there are two people who have two caps reviewed - this was done because these captioners each produced 10 caps apiece, which I felt warranted a little extra attention from me. This will also be the case on part three, where the "regulars" have all produced double-digit caps. But for now, enjoy the work of these seven artists!

Amy Harris

Captioner Summary: Amy is a captioner whose stopped by to share her talents with us more than a few times - she's also got her own blog with some truly awesome captions! Amy's signature is a pink background with black text, often with sissy related themes. She's also got some really excellent family/college caps that are niches I enjoy, so if you like that too go check her work out!

Caption Review: I ended up going with one of Amy's cap in the most recent Workplace Contest. The basis is good - a typo in an airline employee handbook means that all males must be flight attendants and wear the classic blue and silver outfits. But Amy's cap works so well because of the twist ending, where the change is actually voted-in permanently by the male staff :) It's a short and sweet piece, but one with enough of a surprise to make it a unique and enjoyable cap!

Aleksi Andrews

Captioner Summary: Aleksi is another familiar face who has participated in contests with me on and off for a while. Aleksi dropped by for two contests in the recent set of 10 contests, and produced some really good pieces that I'm excited to talk about!

Caption Review: There were two really good pieces in the recent Workplace Contest that Aleksi submitted, but this specific caption is too good to not discuss. First, I like the use of a title and punctuation that capitalizes certain words - adds a lot of weight to certain aspects of the piece. I also really like the use of first person narration, which enhances the already strong plot that Aleksi develops. In fact, the plot itself is what really makes this cap special - Aleksi tells a brilliant story of revenge through willing feminization, detailing every step in the process and the cold calculation the protagonist goes through to fuck (literally and figuratively) his former business partner. Truly an excellent piece.

Slippery

Captioner Summary: Slippery is someone who just recently started participating in my contests but is someone I've had a lot of respect for after seeing the work he did in Wes Mantooth's caption contests. As you may be able to guess from that, Slippery leans towards interracial themed captions, and does a great job with the sissy/alpha dynamic that I really enjoy about that theme.

Caption Review: This selection comes from the Wedding Contest, which I'll admit I had a natural bias towards because this was one of my favorite images in that set. However, Slippery also did a fantastic job integrating that image into his story, referencing details about the sissy bridesmaid's appearance multiple times in the cap. The use of dialogue is also key, setting up the power dynamic between the sissy and the ex-girlfriend with what is said and how it is said. And of course, the entire idea of a feminized sissy bridesmaid pushes a lot of my buttons, which combined with excellent writing by Slippery makes for a wonderful cap!

Alexvyaz

Captioner Summary: Alexvyaz has joined contests somewhat frequently, always producing a trademark cap with a red title, blue text, and white background. There isn't a general theme that I can pick out, but Alexvyaz always produces something enjoyable!

Caption Review: This cap came from the Wedding Contest (clearly, based on the wonderful image!) and was a nice role reversal caption. I think what I enjoyed the most was being able to match the descriptions of what the wife was doing to the husband with the image on the left, which was paired together quite nicely. The last line was also intriguing to me - is "taking what is now hers" referring to a little bit of chastity...or a little bit of sweet lovemaking to his ruffled rump? Either way, it was fun imagining :)

Mr. Holl

Captioner Summary: Next we have Mr. Holl, who only stopped by twice but produced some wonderful captions! Mr. Holl liked to use a black background with usually colorful text, which provided a nice contrast and easy to read captions. The themes were generally sissy/interracial themed, and have a lot of strong dialogue in them!

Caption Review: So you may notice that I have six captions for Mr. Holl...that's because they're all part of the first series I'm going to review! This came from the Gameshow contest and was structured very nicely in that regard. A gameshow host (with the wonderful name "Chuck Youbetcha") is utilized very effectively to convey plot and converse with contestants from the show "I'd Bet My Life". The dialogue itself is what makes this series - it's very good at conveying personality, keeping the flow of the caption moving nicely, and generally mixing up interactions from the very unique characters in the plot. I also liked how it went through the contest, but then jumped into the future for two glimpses into what happened to Kate Suckers and Bottom after the contest. Overall, a really well-written series!

Dr. Jerry

Captioner Summary: Next up we get to talk about Dr. Jerry, who has produced quite a few captions in the three contests he has entered. Dr. Jerry's style seems to be a white background with simple black text, although I have done the layout for him a few times. The captions themselves are mixed - most are a little bit longer stories without much dialogue, but it works well for him! Also, because Dr. Jerry has entered 10 captions, I'll be giving him two reviews.

Caption Review: The first selection comes from the Wedding Contest - I'd like to note that one of my favorite aspects, the layout with two pictures, was done by me, but Dr. Jerry requested it when submitting his cap so I'll give him credit for the cool idea. The use of two images/two sets of characters really drove the caption for me - I am a sucker for family transformations, but the concept behind a literal "Bridal Package" (and Two-for-one, no less!) and identical transformations for the feminized brides was really great.

Caption Review: The second selection is a series from the Pageant contest and one of my favorite pieces in all 10 contests. I love the tone of the writing and the entire premise that the winner must commit more to his feminization to win. The images chosen are excellent, and help drive the story by displaying increasingly beautiful "women" and explaining why they finished where they did. Finally, Dr. Jerry also did a good job transitioning from cap to cap, keeping the reader entranced and wanting to read more!

Lara Yvess

Captioner Summary: Finally, we end with Lara Yvess, a staple on both my blogs and the TG captioning community in general. She's a wonderful person who always produces really unique themes and ideas, and she's captioned with me frequently enough and produced enough caps to warrant two reviews!

Caption Review: Dipping back into the Pageant Contest for this cap, Lara did a good job utilizing an excellent picture and turning it into a caption theme. The reference to the fur coat and creating a pageant for a Faux Female was a really clever plot background and was explained really well. I also loved the sweet ending where "Eva" now really wants to win the title of Faux Female Queen (and who wouldn't looking like "her" ;) )

Caption Review: We end with another series from the Gameshow contest that really highlight Lara's creativity. Two things to note - first, this series does have another follow-up series which relates to this three-parter, so feel free to check that out! Secondly, I did do the title and layout (which I was really pleased with), but it was inspired by Lara's incredible work! Speaking of which, I'm really glad Lara picked up the theme of sports-related gameshow, It allows for some really interesting backstories, which Lara produces beautifully. Although each cap is technically standalone, you definitely get a feel for the overall gameshow theme and the feminization results that can occur. All in all, a really well done set of caps!